Laundry treating apparatus and method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus

ABSTRACT

A laundry treating apparatus and a method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus are provided herein. The method manufactures a front cover having an accurate desired shape using stainless steel having a unique metal color and gloss. The method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus includes a drawing step to mold a front surface and a side surface of the front cover by drawing a stainless steel plate, a spring back reducing step to reduce a spring back of the drawn stainless steel plate, and a cutting step to cut the front cover from the stainless steel plate.

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0021922 and 10-2007-0021923 filed on Mar. 6, 2007, and 10-2008-0002965 filed on Jan. 10, 2008 in Korea, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

A laundry treating apparatus and a method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus are disclosed herein.

2. Background

Laundry treating apparatuses are known. However, they suffer from various disadvantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an assembling process for a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a table illustrating properties of stainless steel that belongs to STS 300;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a sample piece fabricated with stainless steel;

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating degrees of spring back for the samples of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a stainless steel plate having a door opening formed therein;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the stainless steel plate of FIG. 6 after a drawing process;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a stepped portion formed along a circumference of the stainless steel plate of FIGS. 6-7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the stainless steel plate of FIGS. 6-8 formed with an area for various accessories to be secured thereto;

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view of a front cover manufactured using the method of manufacturing according to embodiments disclosed herein;

FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of the front cover of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a washer to which the front cover of FIG. 10 is secured.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, like reference numbers have been used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. In this application, a washer is used as an example of a laundry treating apparatus to explain the embodiments; however, embodiments may be applicable to a dyer and a laundry machine having a washing and drying function, as well.

Laundry treating apparatuses are generally electric appliances including washers, dryers, and combined laundry machines having washing/drying functions that can wash and/or dry laundry, such as clothes, cloth items, beddings, and similar items. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a method of manufacturing a drum type washer 10, wherein a control panel 6 is mounted on a front cover 2 thereof. A tub (not shown) is mounted between side surfaces 4, and a front cover 2 is coupled to the side surfaces 4 to define a front surface of the drum type washer 10. A control panel 6 is mounted in a recess part 3 formed in an upper portion of the front cover 2. That is, in the assembly process shown in FIG. 1, the front cover 2 is installed first and the auxiliary control panel 6 mounted thereto. A detergent box 7 is retractable through an opening 8 formed in the control panel 6.

However, increased assembly lines are required to assemble a laundry treating apparatus, such as a washer, in this manner, because the control panel 6 is separate from the front cover 2 and separately installed. In other words, the front cover 2 and the control panel 6 must be assembled separately.

Moreover, the front cover is generally formed of steel. After molding the front cover in an appropriate shape, a coating process is performed to prevent corrosion. As a result, after the steel molding process, the additional coating process must be performed.

Prior to explaining a method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus according to embodiments disclosed herein, a process of selecting stainless steel as a material for a front cover will be described. As discussed above, the front cover for a laundry treating apparatus may be manufactured using an anti-corrosive material having a unique metal color and gloss. In consideration of this, stainless steel may be selected as this material.

To improve the manufacturing processing of the front cover manufactured using a drawing process, properties of various stainless steel series were researched and the STS 300 series of stainless steel was selected. FIG. 2 is a table illustrating properties of this STS series of stainless steel, specifically, properties of STS 304, STS 304L, and STS 304J1.

As there may be a work hardening of stainless steel, the STS 200 series of stainless steel was drawn and sample pieces made, as shown in FIG. 3, to examine the degrees of spring back of the sample pieces. Hence, the graph shown in FIG. 4 was made and the results analyzed. The spring back of STS 304J1 stainless steel was the smallest in the STS series of stainless steel, and thus, was selected.

Next, a method of manufacturing a front cover of a laundry treating apparatus using a stainless plate selected as discussed above will be explained hereinafter. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a front cover according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 5, the method of manufacturing a front cover may include a drawing step S510 to mold a front surface and at least one side surface of the front cover, a spring back reducing step S530 to reduce a spring back of the drawn stainless plate, and a cutting step S550 to cut the stainless plate.

Recently, there has been an increased demand for electric appliances, such as laundry treating apparatuses, that have exterior beauty with a unique metal color and gloss. One example of a material having a unique metal color and gloss is stainless steel. However, if covers of laundry treating apparatuses are manufactured using stainless steel, it may be difficult to manufacture the covers in accurate shapes.

That is, when drawing stainless steel, there is a severe work hardening, and thus, it may be difficult to perform repeated drawing processes on stainless steel. As a result, a drawing process should be performed once and a desired shape fabricated, which is difficult. In addition, stainless steel has a large spring back phenomena and it is difficult to manufacture a stainless steel item having a desired size, after the drawing process.

The method of manufacturing according to embodiments disclosed herein provides a way to manufacture a front cover using stainless steel having a unique metal color and gloss. In the method of manufacturing according to embodiments disclosed herein, the drawing process may be performed only one time to manufacture the front cover and it may include a process to reduce the spring back of the stainless steel created after the drawing process. The method of manufacturing a front cover according to embodiments disclosed herein will now be explained in detail with reference to drawings.

As discussed above, the method of manufacturing a front cover may include the drawing step S520, the spring back reducing step S530, and the cutting step S550. In the drawing step S520, a stainless plate may be drawn, as shown in FIG. 7. First, before the drawing step, a worker may cut the stainless steel to a length and width longer and wider than a height and width of the front cover to form a stainless steel plate 100, as shown in FIG. 6, in step S510.

Next, a worker may form a door opening 130 in the stainless plate 100 for a door to be coupled to the door opening 130. The door opening 130 may be formed at a center of the stainless plate 100. A worker may chamfer corners of the rectangular stainless plate 100 to prevent injuries to workers in the following processes and to facilitate the manufacturing processes. Thus, the stainless plate 100 shown in FIG. 6 may be manufactured.

As shown in FIG. 7, a worker may then draw the stainless plate and form a front surface 125 and side surfaces 126 and 127, in step S520. The side surfaces 126 and 127 include an upper surface 127 and a lower surface (not shown) formed at upper and lower portions of the front surface 125, as well as a side surface 126 formed at both side portions of the front surface 125, as viewed from the front of the front surface 125. Here, the side surface 126 may be formed in a conventional size of a washer, for example, a depth of more than ˜2 cm and a length of more than ˜40 cm.

A recessed part 124 may be formed at the door opening 130 to receive and hold the door therein. The recessed part 124 may be formed in the drawing step S520. In the drawing step S520, the recessed part 124 may be formed along an outer circumference of the door opening 130, together when forming the front surface 125 and the side surfaces 126 and 127 of the front cover 120.

The drawing step to mold the front cover according to this embodiment may be performed one time, due to the severe work hardening of the stainless steel as discussed above. Since the work hardening of the stainless steel may be more severe after repeated drawing processes, the drawing may be performed only one time to mold a desired shape.

After drawing the stainless steel plate, a worker may reduce a spring back of the drawn stainless steel plate 9, in step S530. Stainless steel has a unique metal color and gloss, but it also has a spring back phenomenon. Because of this characteristic of stainless steel, it is difficult to manufacture a desired shaped in stainless steel. That is, as discussed above, a desired shape of stainless steel should be molded in one drawing process because of the work hardening and the spring back reduced.

In the method of manufacturing according to embodiments disclosed herein to reduce a spring back acting between a first connection portion 200 and a second connection portion 300, a stress in a longitudinal direction of the side surfaces 126 and 127, in other words, a stress in a vertical direction of the front surface 125 is the dominant of the two stresses acting in two different directions between the connection portions 200 and 300. Here, the first connection portion 200 is bent between the front surface 125 and the side surfaces 126 and 127. The second connection portion 300 is bent between the side surfaces 126 and 127 and the plate edge portions. The word “dominant” means that the stress acting in the longitudinal direction of the side surfaces 126 and 127 is at least approximately twice as large as the stress acting in the other direction, for example, a stress in a width direction of the side surfaces 126 and 127.

The drawing process may be performed when molding a curvy shape and spring back generated by stresses acting in different directions at the bent portions. It is difficult to reduce spring back in the drawing process, compared with molding a simple linear shape. When drawing the front surface 125 and the side surface 126 and 127, there may be a bent portion between the side surface 126 and the upper side surface 127 and a bent portion between the side surface 126 and the lower side surface (not shown) and complex stresses may be activated at the bent portions of the side surfaces 126 and 127. In particular, nearer to the bent portions between the side surface 126 and the upper surface 127 and between the side surface 126 and the lower surface (not shown), complex stresses may be activated.

The stress acting in a longitudinal direction of the side surfaces 126 and 127 is dominant over the other stresses acting in different directions of the bent portions, in particular, one of the stresses acting in a width direction of the side surfaces 126 and 127. That is, the stress in a longitudinal direction of the side surface 126 and 127 is at least twice as large as the stress in a width direction of the side surface 126 and 127. If the stress in a longitudinal direction is dominant, the complex stress is not activated and the spring back reduced. That is, only the stress acting in the longitudinal direction of the side surfaces 126 and 127 out of the plurality of stresses acting at the bent portions is remaining as a main stress and the spring back may be reduced.

More specifically, to make the stress acting in a longitudinal direction of the side surface 126 and 127 dominant out of the stresses at the bent portions, the side surfaces 126 and 127 may be expanded by a predetermined length. That is, the stress in the longitudinal direction may be made dominant over the other stresses by expanding the side surfaces 126 and 127 a predetermined length.

A predetermined force may be applied to expand the length of the side surfaces 126 and 127. At this time, if the plate 400 is not fixed, the plate edge portion 101 moves toward the side surfaces 126 and 127. As a result, the expansion of the side surfaces 126 and 127 is not performed as much as desired. Thus, if expanding the side surface 126 and 127, the plate edge portion 101 corresponding to the side surface 126 and 127 may also be expanded. That is, both side surfaces 126 and 127 and corresponding plate edge portions 101 with respect to the second connection portion 300 may be expanded, respectively, without moving material of the plate 400 with respect to the second connection portion 300 bent between the side surfaces 126 and 127 and the plate 400.

To expand the side surfaces 126 and 127 and the plate edge portion 101, a worker may fix the plate edge portion 101 and apply a predetermined force (F) to the second connection portion 300 bent between the side surfaces 126 and 127 and the plate 400. The predetermined force may be applied using, for example, a die specifically configured to provide an appropriate amount of force to expand or elongate the side surfaces 126 and 127 and the corresponding plate edge portion 101 an appropriate amount in an appropriate direction. Hence, the side surfaces 126 and 127 and the corresponding plate edge portions 101 may be expanded in an arrow direction with respect to the second connection portion 300 by the force (F) acting at the second connection portion 300 and the plate edge portion 101 may be fixed not to move toward the second connection portion 300.

As shown in FIG. 8, before applying the force to the second connection portion 300, at least one stepped portion 210 may be formed along the plate edge portion 101 to prevent the plate edge portion 101 from moving toward the bent second connection portion 300 securely. The stepped portion 210 may be formed along the plate edge portion 101 a predetermined length. In this embodiment, after the drawing step, the side surfaces 126 and 127 and the plate edge portions 101 may be expanded in both opposite directions with respect to the second connection portion 300 to reduce the spring back.

After the spring back reducing step, a worker may perform a finishing step S540, forming each area for other elements, for example, a control panel, a door, and a service hole cover. FIG. 9 illustrates a plate in which each area for each element is formed. In reference to FIG. 9, the panel opening 140 may be formed above the door opening 130 and the control panel (not shown) mounted in the control panel opening 140. In addition, a service hole 192 may be formed below the door opening 130 and the service hole covet (not shown) mounted in the service hole 192. When performing maintenance and repair of the washer, a service person may perform a maintenance and repair job inside the washer through the service hole 192. Also, a coupling part 133 may be formed at the recess part 124 of the door opening 130.

Hence, a worker cuts a front cover 120, as shown in FIG. 10, from the stainless steel plate 100, in step S550. When cutting the front cover 120, a worker may cut along the second connection portion 300 connected between the side surfaces 126 and 127 and the plate edge portion 101 and a worker may cut a large enough portion to form the flange parts 226, 227 and 228, as shown in FIG. 11. That is, the cut front cover 120 should have a large enough section in a predetermined length to form the flange parts 226, 227, and 228 along edges of the side surfaces 126 and 127. As a result, the flange parts 226, 227, and 228 may not be continuously formed from each other but separately formed, as shown in FIG. 11, although the flange parts 226, 227 and 228 may be continuously formed from the side surfaces 126 and 127.

After cutting the front cover 120 from the stainless steel plate 100, the worker may form flanges by bending the flange parts 226, 227 and 228. The front cover 120 may be coupled to the cabinet of the washer using the flanges.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are a front perspective view and a rear perspective view of a front cover 120 manufactured using the above discussed method of manufacturing. Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the front cover 120 manufactured using the method of manufacturing according to embodiments disclosed herein may include a front surface 125 and a side surface 126 continuously formed from the front surface 125. The front cover 120 may further include an upper surface 126 and a lower surface (not shown) formed from the front surface 125 and the side surface 126. Reference numeral 182 shown in FIG. 10 is a detergent box opening for receiving a detergent box (not shown) installed therein. The detergent box (not shown) may be retractable through the detergent box opening 182.

As shown in FIG. 11, flange parts may be formed at edges of the side surface 126, the upper surface 127 and the lower surface (not shown), respectively. A side flange part 226, an upper flange part 227, and a lower flange 228 may be separately formed. As shown in FIG. 11, a plurality of coupling holes 230 may be formed at the side flange part 226, the upper flange part 227, and the lower flange part 228, respectively. A plurality of coupling holes (not shown) corresponding to the coupling holes of the flange parts may be formed in the cabinet (not shown). As a result, the front cover 120 may be secured to the cabinet by coupling the plurality of coupling members, such as bolts, to the coupling holes of the front cover 120 and the coupling holes of the cabinet (not shown). FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a washer having the front cover 120 manufactured using the method of manufacturing according to embodiments disclosed herein secured thereto.

The door opening 130 to couple the door and the panel opening 140 may be formed in the front cover 125 of the front cover. Together with the door opening 130 and the panel opening 140, a service hole 192 may be formed in the front surface 125. As a result, before securing the front cover to the cabinet, a control panel may be mounted to the front cover and a door coupled to the front cover manufactured using the method of manufacturing according to embodiments disclosed herein. That is, it is efficient to assemble the front cover according to embodiments disclosed herein, because the front cover having the control panel mounted therein may be a single module.

Embodiments disclosed herein provide a method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus capable of being manufactured easily by reducing the necessary processes. Embodiments disclosed herein further provide a method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus that manufactures a front cover having an accurate desired shape using stainless steel having a unique metal color and gloss.

Embodiments disclosed herein provide a method of manufacturing a front cover for a laundry treating apparatus that includes a drawing step to mold a front surface and a side surface of the front cover by drawing a stainless steel plate, a spring back reducing step to reduce a spring back of the drawn stainless steel plate, and a cutting step to cut the front cover from the stainless steel plate. The manufacturing method according to embodiments may further include a step to form a door opening in the stainless steel plate, prior to the drawing step. A recessed part may be further molded at an outer circumference of the door opening in the drawing step. Further, in the drawing step, the front surface, the side surface, and the recessed part formed at the outer circumference of the door opening may be drawn at the same time.

A spring back of the side surface may be reduced in the spring back reducing step. The side surface may have a predetermined depth of more than ˜2 cm and a length of more than ˜40 cm.

In the spring back reducing step, a stress in a longitudinal direction of the side surface out of stresses acting in more than two directions of the side surface may be dominant over a stress in a width direction. As a result, in the spring back reducing step, the side surface may be expanded. Further, in the spring back reducing step, a plate edge portion corresponding to the side surface may be expanded outward, together with the expansion of the side surface. If the side surface and the plate edge portion are expanded, both portions with respect to a bent portion between the side surface and the plate may be expanded. In such a case, at least one stepped portion may be formed along the plate edge portion corresponding to the side surface.

In the cutting step, the plate may be cut to form a flange area at the side surface. The method may further include a flange part forming step to form a flange part at the side surface.

Embodiments disclosed herein further provide a laundry treating apparatus including a front cover manufactured by the method of manufacturing disclosed herein. The front cover may include a front surface and at least one side surface continuously formed from the front surface. The front cover may include a pair of side surfaces continuously formed from the front surface.

The front cover may further include an upper surface and a lower surface that are continuously formed from the front surface and the pair of the side surfaces. In such a case, flange parts having a predetermined length may be formed at the upper surface, the pair of the side surfaces, and the lower surface, respectively. Further, each of the flange parts may be separately formed.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

1. A method of manufacturing a metal cover for an appliance, comprising: conducting a drawing step on a metal plate to form a front surface and side surfaces of the cover; and conducting a spring back reducing step on the metal plate.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting the spring back reducing step comprises reducing a residual stress in at least one side surface of the cover.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein conducting the spring back reducing step comprises simultaneously reducing a residual stress in all of the side surfaces.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein a residual stress exists in a side surface of the cover after the drawing step is conducted, wherein the residual stress can be resolved into a first residual stress acting in a longitudinal direction of the side surface and a second residual stress acting in a direction perpendicular to the side surface, and wherein conducting the spring back reducing step results in the first residual stress being larger than the second residual stress.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein conducting the spring back reducing step results in the first residual stress being two or more times as great as the second residual stress.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting the spring back reducing step comprises elongating at least one side surface formed in the metal plate.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein conducting the spring back reducing step comprises simultaneously elongating all of the side surfaces formed in the metal plate.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein conducting the drawing step also results in the formation of flange portions which extend away from corresponding ones of the side surfaces at an angle.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein conducting the spring back reducing step also comprises elongating at least one flange portion.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein conducting the spring back reducing step results in the formation of a stepped portion on each of the flange portions.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising cutting at least one circular door opening in the plate prior to conducting the drawing step.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein conducting the drawing step comprises forming a recess in the plate for the door opening.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein conducting the drawing step comprises simultaneously forming the front surface, the side surfaces and the recess during the same drawing step.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting the drawing step results in the formation of at least one side surface having a depth of more than approximately 2 cm and a length of more than 40 cm.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising conducting a cutting step to remove excess portions of the metal plate.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting the drawing step comprises conducting the drawing step on a stainless steel plate.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the drawing step results in the front surface and two mutually perpendicular side surfaces forming a continuously formed corner of the cover.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the drawing step results in the front surface and four side surfaces being continuously formed from the metal plate.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein no joining processes are used to connect the front surface and the side surfaces.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein no joining processes are used to join adjacent side surfaces to each other.
 21. A front cover for a laundry treating apparatus manufactured by the method of claim
 1. 22. A laundry treating apparatus comprising the front cover of claim
 21. 23. A method of manufacturing a metal cover for an appliance, comprising: conducting a drawing step on a metal plate to form a front surface and continuously formed side surfaces; and conducting a residual stress reducing step to reduce residual stresses formed in the side surfaces during the drawing step.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the drawing step results in adjacent side surfaces of the cover being continuously formed with each other without the need for a separate joining step.
 25. The method of claim 23, wherein conducting the residual stress reducing step comprises elongating the side surfaces.
 26. The method of claim 23, wherein the residual stress in each of the side surfaces can be resolved into a first residual stress acting in a longitudinal direction of the side surface and a second residual stress acting in a direction perpendicular to the side surface, and wherein conducting the residual stress reducing step results in the first residual stress being larger than the second residual stress.
 27. The method of claim 23, wherein the metal plate comprises a stainless steel plate.
 28. A front cover for a laundry treating apparatus manufactured by the method of claim
 23. 29. A laundry treating apparatus comprising the front cover of claim
 28. 